Euro
British Pound
Product Description
Maura Laverty was something of a grand dame of the kitchen in 1960’s Ireland, and her cookbook“Full and Plenty : Complete Guide to Better Cooking was a feature of many Irish homes of the era. First published in 1960, this is the 1966 second edition , expanded on the first edition.
The book was sponsored by the Irish flour Millers Association, so as a result was baking based, but also covered soups, fish, vegetables, meat, desserts, 'puddings' and a wide range of side dishes.
Laverty was something of a Renaissance woman, with a talent for writing and broadcasting as well as cookery, initially she started wrote newspaper articles , and then progressed to writing novels (some of which were banned) and plays. Her cookbook came about from her love of food which was shaped by the time she spent in Spain working as a governess. Her first cookbook was commissioned by the Irish government and its intention was to show Irish housewives how to make do with what little food they had at their disposal in the war years and after.
What Maura strove to achieve with this book was to show all Irish housewives that cookery was enjoyable and more than just a mindless chore. In her introductory chapter she says ‘ Cookery is the poetry of housework’, and this sentence really sets the tone for the rest of the book. Maura associates recipes with people, flavours with coutries and food with love. Food is almost a part of human pyschology for Laverty and she talks of the meditative effects of peeling apples and rubbing butter into velvety flour to relax and soothe the nerves. She cooks from the heart and you can’t help but be inspired by her passion.
Each chapter in “Full and Plenty” is prefaced with a little tale and it almost reads like a series of short stories with recipes thrown in. That said there are definitely plenty of recipes in this book - about three times the amount you would find in a normal book of the same size. The recipes themselves are not overly detailed, as this book was aimed at those who are already capable as cooks.
Condition - Externally - lacks the dustjacket, solid in reddish orange cloth covers, Binding tight, moderate scuffing and edgewear. Heat mark to front cover.
INTERNALLY there are intermittent stains on a few pages - but no text damage, no pages damaged, Good quality colour photography throughout - with that somewhat odd 1960's hue food photography books from the era often have.
Not ex library. Fully indexed. Foxing to the front and rear endpapers
Tracked courier delivery via an Post within Republic of Ireland is included in the cost.
